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Friday, 11 March 2011

The stream wasn't a very good one but it was enough to see that Adam looked beautiful and fresh-faced, skin peachy with minimal makeup, bringing back memories of One. The hair and staging was very reminiscent of ToMT but with softer lighting and not quite as dapper or slick. His clothing was much more casual, hearkening back to some of those old Upright performances. It was an excellent introduction that he had, with Ryan paying tribute to what he'd done for the performance aspect of AI and his songwriting skills.

I'd spent the last few days working on my latest video edit of Aftermath, one of my pitch-perfect favourites and a precursor to this, so my ears were quite attuned to the song. After the rapid new chords of Monte's intro, a shaky and tentative start had me worried. I'm afraid to say that the first "Lost" sounded just that and on an acoustic set there's nothing to hide pitch issues behind. The set was quite darkly lit and intimate, accompanied by a hardly recognisable Isaac and a Tommy with a very big bouffant. There were a few other notes that didn't quite hit the mark but everything came together before the mid-point in the song and the power behind the vocals lifted it. The expressions on Adam's face along with his movements and finger-pointing were just fascinating to watch and the camera loved him. I love those gritty raspy belts which are my favourite timbre of his and they were plentiful towards the end. The finish was a sweet and soothing whisper with Adam looking particularly angelic.

Maybe I'll have more comments to add tomorrow but for now it's bedtime.

It's a welcome trip down memory lane today with all the excitement, nervousness, anticipation and speculation preceding an Adam performance on AI. Without the pressure of competition we can all relax and enjoy, the result of Adam's season a distant memory because of his success in the aftermath. This week is a celebration of the song with the debut of the remix yesterday for the Trevor Project, and a return to AI with a planned acoustic performance today to promote the remix and Glam Nation DVD.

It feels like this could be the final step in Adam's 'rehabilitation' following the aftermath of the AMAs, which, surprisingly is still a topic of conversation during interviews. This could be the perfect opportunity to exorcise any remaining ghosts with a new water-cooler moment. We know it's not going to be an 'ordinary' acoustic performance like we saw on the tour. It seems important for Adam to keep pleasing his existing fans with little surprises and Monte has certainly hinted at it. So how's he going to change it up? Well it looks like Monte will be there on guitar, but with rumours of The Blonds providing the outfit, we could be in for quite a visual spectacle. I'm wondering if the arrangement will only partly be acoustic with a dramatic costume change during the performance. He could literally shed his armour and come out even glitterier. I know that Adam won't be able to resist taking full advantage of the visual as well as audio medium. The excitement is building with only hours to go now...

While we wait with sweaty palms, here is my contribution to Aftermath week. It's my latest video edit of one of my favourite acoustic Aftermaths of the tour at LA's Club Nokia, the final stop.

I love this version because he radiates joy and positivity from the very start when he carries a stool from the stage and sings about it. We see him smiling and bouncing about on the steps during the song and the vocals are beautifully sweet with some powerful belts. We know that the song comes from a personal place as he feels every word he sings so I tried to make an edit that reflects this. Hope you enjoy it.

Wednesday, 9 March 2011

Even though the original is one of my least favourites on the album, I wasn't too sure about a dance remix at first, envisaging something along the lines of badly-produced Euro-disco. My first impressions are that it's much mellower than I expected having slower, gentler vocals with some melodic changes. I'm still not very keen on the shrill backing vocals which have remained. I would've liked to have heard less liberal over-use of the synthesised vocals and something more interesting than a house beat. It's still a pleasant surprise though, and I do love the sound of Adam's voice. I know it'll grow on me, being very catchy thus having the potential to become the anthem it was always intended to be.